pb cresta gasser v8

[mygasser]

now ashley's zephyr's done (for now) i can get back to the many other projects here. there's a few jobs left to do on the 38 nash gasser before that goes back. then straight on with my 63 pb cresta gasser i've bought (yes another project). it had a rover v8 fitted but that went in a ford pop ute (aussie pickup) so i was going to use my fe v8 i got for my nash project but.... i've gone another route. i've provisionally bought a 318/904 combo that's currently in a 73 scamp running and driving. he's got a late engine and box for the scamp so the 318 will come complete with ancillaries which is nice.
neil.

edit... forgot to say another advantage of the 318 is the exhaust port layout is the same as sbc so ashley's old fenderwell headers will be reused on my cresta, once the flanges are swapped for sbm of course.

[mygasser]

we went to have a look at the 318 and box (in the plymouth scamp) for the cresta today. it's a really sweet engine with a new carb fitted and it comes radiator to propshaft, all for £900. it'll speed up the build for sure.
neil.

[mygasser]

it just occurred to me that i've done it again..... i'm buying parts for 2 projects..... again, doh! the cresta needs to be done and sold before getting back to the nash but i'm looking at fe parts..... for the nash. it really is a disease, it must be, we can't seem to help ourselves.
neil.

[mygasser]

looks like i've lined up some upgrades for the 318/904 for the cresta. stu here is upgrading his 360 after the nos' nat's. he offered me his 360 heads, weiand inlet and 2500 stall torque convertor. those parts with a better cam' and the headers i have will improve the setup a lot. i have to decide whether to have the heads skimmed to regain some lost compression from the 360 heads bigger chambers or consider adding a turbo or 2 which suits the lower compression. decisions, decisions, lol.
neil.

[mygasser]

another thing i remembered was i'm sure i still have the 1/4" ally front motor plate and matching machined timing cover to fit the 318. it's left over from the valiant i had a while back and will suit the gasser style build of the cresta.
neil.

[mygasser]

so to collect the 318 and box i need to empty (at least mostly) my transit so today we made a 'loft' in my garage over the road to store a load of 8x4 sheets of 2" insulation for future home jobs. we cut 4 lengths of mechano like strap which we screwed in 2 foot 6 inch 'u' shapes to the rafters. then we sat 2 8 foot plus lengths of 4x2 timber in the straps and screwed them in place. this let us make 2 stacks of insulation sheets side by side to get it all up out of the way and still nearly 7 foot off the ground for reasonable headroom. tomorrow we need to chuck out a ton of 'it'll come in handy one day' Bananarama! so the 100-ish 8 foot stud timbers and 20 something 8x4 sheets of 7/8" sterling board can be put in there. the engine and box would to be fair have fitted in by the back doors but the extra weight would kill the fuel consumption not to mention driveability. it's just the excuse i need to clear out some junk anyway so.....
neil.

[mygasser]

boy we threw out some cr4p yesterday! it's going to take at least 2 tip runs in the s-max to clear it all. that's without any metal stuff, but ashley's mate will come and take all that so we don't even have to pick it up again now.
anyway.... today we collected the 318 and box for the cresta along with all the parts for it. all went well until a roundabout on the way home in gillingham (dropping off a scimitar axle to a mate) when one of the straps that was chafing through on part of the engine finally let go and the engine/box rolled onto it's side in the van. we pulled over and some antifreeze was running out under the back doors, but that wasn't the worst part. when we opened the doors we were greeted by a lake of auto trans fluid..... also running out of the back of the van, doh!! as you know my glass is half full so on the good side the fluid was a nice clear pinky colour and even smelt like new. we added some absorbent granules to the lake when we got home and there it'll sit until we lift it out to clean it up ready to fit into the cresta.
neil.

[mygasser]

i'm waiting for postage costs from the states (ebay) on a nos lunati voodoo cam and new lifters for the 318 that's going in the cresta. with the 360 heads, weiand inlet, fenderwell headers, holley 750 and 2500 stall convertor it should be quite lively
neil.

[mygasser]

a quick update on the 318..... the seller in the states obviously couldn't be bothered sending his camshaft to the uk as he didn't even reply. so back to rock auto and order a 340 cam' and lifters instead. it's recognised as a good upgrade for a 318 and in fact specs out as having both more lift and duration than the edelbrock performer cam' so i'm sure it'll be fine. with the 360 heads, weiand inlet, holley carb and fenderwell headers it should be quite 'peppy'. the 2500 stall convertor won't hurt either, lol.
neil.
edit... just added a double roller timing set and engine gasket set to the order.

[Stu]

Be interested to see how this combo works.

[mygasser]

me too. i did have a challenger about 30 odd years ago with a 318. i pulled the heads to replace the gaskets and that had 340 heads with 2.02 inlets. i added an offy port-o-sonic inlet (remember them?), 650 d/p holley and new headers/exhaust. it ran really good so fingers crossed i'll have similar results this time too. if funds allow i'll order a set of kb 399 pistons, they have a raised dome top which will recover some of the lost compression from the 360 heads bigger chambers.
neil.

[mygasser]

all the parts for the cam' swap are here now which is good. once that same job is done to the ford fe big block in ashley's zephyr (along with a new bigger ali rad' and fenderwell headers) we can set to on my cresta. it makes sense to swap the cam' as the timing cover has to be swapped for the one i had milled for the ali front motor plate i'll be using.
neil.

[mygasser]

so i think i'm going to use my (all together) ford fe engine and the fmx box in the cresta not the mopar 318/904 i just bought. that way i still have options for my nash of the mopar or the other ford fe i have and the electronic o/d box i've adapted to fit it.
neil.

[mygasser]

the bonus with the above plan is i'll have a spare engine and box which is part way towards 'another' project, lol.
neil.

[mygasser]

we collected front and rear screens with rubbers along with a back seat and some interior door and window winder handles for the cresta today. the car came with t front screen but no rubber and the rear is perspex screwed in so again no rubber. the front rubber has no chrome trims but i'm told they are just 'trim' and not used to tighten the rubber in place like many others. we can always cut some thin strips of stainless or even ally and curve it to suit with my shrinker/stretcher if i can't source the real thing later on.
neil.